The City of Othello proposes to reconstruct approximately 2,660 feet of 14th Avenue between Cemetery Road and State Route 26. The Washington State Transportation Improvement Board is helping fund this transportation project through an Urban Arterial Program grant. Since this project is funded by state funds, the City of Othello must meet the requirements of Executive Order 05-05 and consider the potential impacts to historic properties prior to project execution. To that end, Gray & Osborne, the engineering and management firm, retained Plateau Archaeological Investigations to complete the cultural resource survey.
Background research revealed one archaeological resource, 39 inventoried historic properties, and five cultural resource surveys within 1.0 mile of the proposed undertaking. However, none of these resources are located in the proposed undertaking, and none of the previously conducted cultural resource surveys intersect. The Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation’s predictive model places the proposed undertaking within an area of “high risk” for encountering cultural resources.
The 1884 cadastral map and 1912 county atlas do not depict 14th Avenue. The 1963 county atlas shows 14th Avenue, and there are no structures shown along the roadway. The Othello USGS map, originally published in 1954 (photo-revised in 1979), indicates 14th Avenue was modified sometime between the two publish dates. There are no structures displayed along the road. The 2013 aerial photograph shows 14th Avenue passing through agricultural fields, a subdivision, and school facilities.
This is a relatively flat section of road, and passes by an elementary school campus, athletic fields associated with the elementary and high schools, residential neighborhood, and agricultural fields. Archaeologists noted scattered modern detritus (i.e., clear and brown broken bottle glass) along the Project Area. Archaeologists excavated six shovel probes. Brown and clear bottle glass fragments were observed in all probes, and given the amount of glass observed along the Project Area this was to be expected. No Native American or historic-era cultural materials or features were observed during the pedestrian survey or subsurface investigations. The proposed undertaking will result in No Historic Properties Affected, and no further archaeological investigations were recommended prior to, or during, execution of this project.
Location: Adams County, Washington
